Higgs Boson

Sold exclusively through the KU Bookstore, the Higgs Boson plush toy is perfect for the physics enthusiast. The Higgs field is hypothesized to be present everywhere in space and is what gives things the property of mass. The Higgs boson is a particle that appears when the Higgs field is excited. The Higgs field can be thought of as a bunch of particles or as waves. Imagine a swimming pool or bathtub where the water seems continuous (wave), but is actually made up of lots and lots of individual water molecules (particles) - as you move around, you interact with the water. This is what all of space is, it is full of energy and is not empty. As particles interact in space with the Higgs, they can't travel as fast as the speed of light, so they have mass.

Particles such as the electron don't interact much with the Higgs and so don't have much mass. The top quark is very massive or heavy because it interacts a lot with the Higgs.

The Higgs is important because without mass all particles would be zipping around at the speed of light. Under these conditions, atoms and molecules would not be able to form, and the world of matter as we know it would not exist.

The Higgs Boson Plush doll was developed by the KU Quarked! Team, which includes physicists, museum educators, and designers, and KU Innovation and Collaboration (KUIC).SHOP NOW

Admission Information

Research Administration

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